You, Me, Her and the Wolf
by Faela
Summary: Set at the end of Who are you? what Willow thought was a draconian katra wasn't, now Faith and Buffy are some where else and still in each other's bodies. Now what is Anita Blake going to do with two six year old slayers.
1. All alone in the house

**All alone in the house**

Disclamier: If you recognize the character it doesn't belong to me. First part in italics is taken from the episode "Who are You?"

_Boone caught Faith's stake hand and took it from her. It clattered to the floor as he shoved her against the front pew._

_"I have strength you couldn't dream of. "Boone hissed as he punched her hard in the face, "Adam has shown me the way, and there is nothing--"_

_He suddenly arched his back and Faith watched him turn into ashes, revealing Buffy standing there holding the fallen stake looking pissed_

_At the sight of "herself" something snapped in Faith and she threw herself at Buffy shoving her towards the alter. Faith punched her in the face and Buffy quickly retaliated with a left hook-spinning backhand combination, sending Faith against the railing. She followed through with a side axe kick but Faith blocks that and punched her across the face again._

_Faith suddenly began a mad flurry of punches that Buffy was hard pressed to block. When she tried to counter, Faith ducked under her swing and not missing a beat, shoved her against the alter and continued to throw punches. She succeeded in sending Buffy to her knees but she came back up with an uppercut to Faith's face that finally made her back off._

_"You can't win this." Buffy stated simply._

_"SHUT UP! Do you think I'm afraid of you?" Faith screamed, eyes squeezed shut to stop the tears._

_She grabbed Buffy by the shoulders and threw her down on the floor hard. Then quickly straddle Buffy's waist and started slamming her fist into her face._

_"You're nothing! Disgusting! Murderous bitch!" Faith screamed louder grabbing Buffy's head and slamming against the floor, "You're nothing! You're disgusting!"_

_Buffy finally caught Faith's fist and their hands started to glow with the katra between their palms._

A flash of blinding light and the world changed.

Both girls felt dizzy for a moment before they resumed their argument again, over what neither could remember at that moment. Buffy tossed Faith off her and sat up. "Give it back!"

"Give what back B?" Faith asked half heartedly just then looking about.

The distraction in Faith's voice made Buffy look around. The room was large and tidy, someone's living room she supposed but she didn't know who's. She looked at her sister and pouted, "Where are we Faith?"

"I'm not sure B." Faith stood up and walked around cautiously, the house was empty and dark. She looked at Buffy who's dark eyes were starting to fill with tears. "Hey we just fell asleep and Mama will be right back for us."

"Promise?"

"Hey let's see if they got anything good to eat in the fridge, I'm starving."

"But this isn't our place Faith, we can't steal."

Faith rolled her eyes, Buffy was such a goody two shoes. She padded into the kitchen looking out the sliding glass doors and thinking there was something she had forgotten. That something wasn't right. Well besides the fact that she was in a strange house with her sister and couldn't remember how she got there. She looked at her reflection, her long blond hair was almost as tangled as Buffy's dark curls, her face was thin and pale and her greenish eyes seemed way to big. It didn't seem right...

Faith's stomach grumbled and she forgot what she was thinking, tugging open the refrigerator door. Not much in it, but there was milk and some fruit. She grabbed one red apple and tried to figure out where the glasses would be, because B would throw a fit if she drank from the jug. Had to be in one of the cabinets, she thought to herself and pulled out a drawer to give herself a step to climb up on to the counter.

Buffy sniffled a bit trying to be a big girl and not be afraid, she wanted her mom and she wanted to turn the lights on but she didn't know where the switch was, and she was hungry too. But Mommy would get mad if she stole from ... Who's house was this anyway? She also really needed to use the bathroom. She wandered down the hall and found that she could at least take care of one problem. Another room she peeked into had stuffed penguins everywhere and she grabbed one near the door and hugged it tight. She wondered where Mr. Gordo was and if the person would mind if she held onto the penguin for just a little bit. It was awful dark in the house.

She decided she was very hungry after all and if Faith was going to eat she might as well too. The sound of jingling keys made her stop in fear, the door opened lights from the street made the woman in the doorway a dark silhouette. Buffy didn't even think about it but launched herself at the woman with relief, the penguin in one arm and the other wrapping around the woman's leg with a shriek of "Mommy!"

The sound of Faith's startled curse and breaking glass made Buffy flinch. Mommy was going to be soooo mad now, but Buffy clung that much harder as a man's large hands encircled her waist and tried to pull her loose.

* * *

_Author's notes: No I didn't get them confused, they are still trapped in each other's bodies with little memory of who and what they were. Think of it as family counseling PTB style. ;)_


	2. Just another night at Anita's

**Just another night at Anita's house of Chaos**

Anita flipped the key chain about till she had the right one, a bit of relief as she started turning the key in the lock. She smiled at Richard, their night had gone perfect for once, no Jean-Claude interrupting, no Dolph calling about strange things, no mad zombies, crazed wolves or any of the thousand and one things that loved to make a mess of Anita's life. A rare perfect calm night, she thought as she opened the door, finally.

"Mommy!"

Anita was startled by the high pitched shriek almost as much as the blur of motion that attached it's self to her leg. It took only a split second to realize it was a child, a very young one from the height. And there was from the sound of it a second child in her kitchen. She fumbled for the light switch, as Richard tried to persuade the small girl to let go for a moment.

The lights flared on and Anita looked down at the dark haired little girl, who was holding Sigmund in one arm and looking at her huge dark eyes growing wide with surprise. "Mommy! I want my mommy!" The child let go and looked franticly out the door as Richard scooped her up, "NO! Put me down, let me go!"

The child alternated beating Richard over the head with the stuffed penguin and her fist. A blond streak and a second child was attacking Richard. "Let her go! You can't take my sister!"

Anita caught this one around the waist as her phone began ringing. What else she wondered for a second, fumbling with the phone and the kicking child. "What!" she growled in to the phone.

"Ma Petite?" Jean-Claude's voice came over the phone barely heard through the shrieks of the children and Richard's attempts to calm the panicked child he held.

"I'm busy right now." Anita growled and tried to position the blond bundle of energy in a more secure hold, only to drop the phone in the process. Just great she thought all she needed was…

"Anita what in the world is going on?" Dolph's voice called out.

"Quiet!" Anita yelled at the top of her lungs.

Four startled pairs of eyes looked at her and the children stopped abruptly. She walked over to the couch and set the blond child down, Richard followed with the dark haired one. Side by side the pair looked nothing alike, but the comforting arms that slipped around each other spoke of familiarity. About five or six years old she guessed, the blond looked warily at her while the dark one held Sigmund tighter.

"Okay we aren't going to hurt you, but we need to know who you are? What are your names?"

The blond spoke up, "I'm Faith and she's Buffy."

"Okay Faith, do you know where you live?"

"With Buffy and Mama of course." Faith answered with the conviction of a child.

Dolph bent down to their level, "Do you know what your mother's name is?"

Buffy nodded and answered brightly, "Mommy!"

Richard laughed softly, "How old are you Buffy?"

Buffy chewed on her lip for a second and held up her hand with all five finger's extended, then released the penguin long enough to raise her second hand with two fingers showing. "I'm six!"

Faith sighed and pushed one of Buffy's fingers down, "You got too many up again B. I'm six too."

Dolph nodded at Anita and headed to his car to call in, someone had to be missing a pair of six year old girls by now.

Grumbling stomachs made Anita sigh, when had these kids eaten last? "Are you hungry?"

Both nodded Buffy sat forward a bit a hopeful look on her face. Anita got up and headed for the kitchen trying to think what she had that a kid would eat. Broken glass littered the floor where the milk jug sat. A half eaten apple rested on the counter, so this was what Faith had been doing when they arrived. She grabbed a broom and swept the remains of the glass up, checked the milk to make sure none had gotten in it and poured two glasses. That should help take the edge off the hunger until she could warm up something.

She brought the milk out, Buffy smiled and thanked her, Faith grabbed the glass in both hands and was gulping it down. Buffy was drinking a bit slower, but with obvious hunger and her little feet kicked happily. "What do you two like to eat?"

"Macaroni!" Buffy yelled

S'getti."

"Mushmellows."

"Cheeseburger."

"Pizza!"

"Pepperoni pizza!"

"Pineapple and ham." Faith's eyes were brighter than they had been since Anita had found them.

"Ewwwe gross!" Buffy declared, sticking her tongue out. "And no mushy things!"

Faith shoved her sister slightly, " I like mushrooms."

"Okay pizza it is. Thank the heavens for all night pizza joints." Anita headed back to the kitchen.

Dolph came in while she was standing in the kitchen listening to a cheerful voice tell her that her call was important and would be answered quickly. "No report of two missing girls locally, Sally is checking the national database right now. They are cute little things aren't they."

"Strong too." Anita muttered as a bored teenager announced the specials, "Two large pizzas, one pepperoni and cheese, one pineapple and ham, and the cinnamon bread sticks." Good she'd have enough leftovers for the next day at least.

Dolph shrugged as he waited, "We can call child services but this late they really don't like coming out. Plus maybe the mother will show back up. Any clue how they got in?"

"No, everything is locked still, no broken windows. The blond was in the kitchen when we arrived, raiding the refrigerator. The dark haired one has been in my bedroom, but was in the living room when I came in." Anita ran a hand through her hair remembering the shock she had felt at hearing the small child call for her mommy. "They couldn't have been here long. They hadn't even found a light switch yet."

She grabbed two apples and headed for the living room, Faith still sat slumped on the couch, Buffy however was in Richard's lap still holding Anita's penguin and talking a mile a minute. She liked purple, she could ice skate and she was going to be a cheerleader one day and boys were just icky. And Faith was mean and beat her up, see the bruise she had. Buffy pulled up the sleeve of her shirt to show small bruise that was already fading away.

Anita smiled at the scene, Richard was good with kids. Then her jaw dropped open at Buffy's next statement.

"Are you a nice werewolf? I like nice ones but the ones that go grrr and try to eat my friends are bad." Buffy leaned contentedly against Richard unaware of the shock she had just given the adults in the room.

Faith just sighed and sunk further into the couch cushions, "You are such a baby."


	3. One Am and Buffy is screaming

**One Am and Buffy is screaming**

_Back in the church……….._

"Buffy!" Willow screamed as she watched her best friend and the bitch explode in a ball of light. Tara caught her as she started to fall, "Where are they?"

"What happened?" Giles asked as he came through the door. "Buffy?"

Willow started crying louder and Tara looked up at him shaking her head. Riley walked around the church looking stunned, he carefully picked up a small sphere that was glowing bright red. Pulsing as if alive. "What is this?"

Giles frowned and fumbled with his handkerchief for a moment pulling it out and taking the sphere from. "Willow? Exactly what spell did you use? "

"The Draconian katra spell, you know, it switches two souls around so that, Buffy could be you know Buffy and not Faith. And …"

Giles held up a hand, "May I see the book you used?"

Tara nodded, "It's back in my room. I can get it for you."

"Umm Yes, can you bring it back to my apartment? I'll take Willow there and Riley should be able to handle the clean up here with out our help." Giles looked at the glowing sphere with an air of distrust again before knotting the handkerchief about it and slipping into one pocket

_Back at Anita's house………_

How on earth had the child known Richard was a werewolf? Not that it appeared to bother the little girl, she continued chattering about everything in between bites of the apple. Faith rolled her eyes several times, but other wise ate her apple in peace until the doorbell rang. Hazel eyes suddenly alert, the child bounced off the couch and ran to the door, as Anita gathered her wallet up.

"You don't got the pizza." Faith's pouted, "I wanted a pizza."

Faith sulked back to the couch, and flung herself on to it. "Just another dumb wolf for Buffy to play with."

Anita choked, Jason was stunned enough to forget good manners and peered in at the tiny blond girl who was curled up on the sofa.

"How did she…" Jason began his blue eyes showing the surprise he felt, "Who is she?"

"Hi!" Buffy cheerfully called to the newcomer, "She's my sister Faith and she's just mad because she wanted a pizza. I'm Buffy. You got pretty eyes." Buffy smiled in the confident way of a well loved if slightly spoiled child. She had no doubt she could get what she wanted from these two.

Faith on the other hand wasn't interested in playing games, if she wanted something, she'd get it not act like an idiot till someone felt sorry for her. The new wolf didn't bother her, it wasn't like he was a vampire or anything. Just couldn't play with them during a full moon if you didn't want to start howling at the moon every month like… The image of a red haired teen came to mind, but she didn't remember his name. Weird.

Anita started to pull Jason into the kitchen, knowing full well Jean-Claude had sent him to see what was going on.

ding dong

Faith glared at the door but didn't run to it this time.

"Jason can you see who it is?" Anita picked up the wallet again and pulled out a few bills.

"Ms. Blake? Two large pizzas one ham and pineapple, one pepperoni, large cinnamon bread sticks?"

At this Faith was off the couch and Buffy squirmed away from Richard running for the door, Anita handed Buffy the money and was rewarded with a huge grin. The delivery man was staring at a sweet faced little blond that looked more like a lioness after a gazelle, he wisely handed over the boxes that seemed far to large for the little girl. Buffy handed him the money with a quick thank you and chased her sister into the kitchen.

Jason closed the door and shook his head, "I take it they like pizza."

Anita frowned slightly, "They are hungry. Let me help them while Richard fills you in on the little locusts."

Faith had figured out which pizza was hers and had the box open in front of her already halfway finished with one large piece. Buffy seemed to be trying to be more polite, but was also taking huge bites barely chewing the hot pizza. Anita gave them plates and more milk. She would have to send Richard or Jason to the store in a bit.

By the third slice Buffy was humming and kicking her legs happily, actually chewing the pizza now. Faith still hunched over her food slightly protecting it the way a wild animal would, a starving wild animal Anita thought to herself. How could a pair of sibling be so different?

Buffy was a charmer, friendly and cheerful, Faith on the other hand looked like she had been kicked one to many times and was expecting another blow at any moment. It wasn't unheard of for only one child of a family to be abused. No bruises on either however and that did not explain how they knew what Richard and Jason were.

She sighed since when would anything in her life be easy, just one uninterrupted evening with Richard was all she had wanted. Not two little mysteries sitting at her table devouring a pizza as if there would never be food again. One wolf who would be brooding for a week over the family fate had stolen from him. And a vampire that was not so patiently waiting to hear what was going on.

"Hey slow down girls before you make yourselves ill." Anita smiled and ruffled Buffy's dark curls.

Jason looked like he was about to fall on the floor laughing, "You Should have seen Jean-Claude's face when you dropped the phone. Everyone could hear the girls screaming and then you yelling quiet. He would be here himself but thought that two frightened children would not take well to him."

"I wonder if they would know what he is." Anita half mused to herself. " Has it really only been an hour?" She looked at the clock for confirmation. "It's one in the morning those two need sleep as soon as they are full and hopefully tomorrow Dolph will be able to find where they came from. Do either of you smell anything odd about them? Could their mother be a were?"

Richard frowned, "This is going to sound odd, but neither one has a scent. I don't know why I didn't notice it before."

"What do you mean no scent?" Anita asked.

Jason sniffed at the air, "He's right, I can smell you, Richard, the policeman, someone else that hasn't been here for a while, the pizzas, apples, but neither child."

Great one more mystery to add to a growing list. "Look can one of you run to the store, I need milk and some cereal or something to feed those two in the morning, something better than leftover pizza."

Jason immediately volunteered and was up and out the door. Richard went to check on the girls. "Can you wash your hands and faces or do you need help?"

Faith's voice held an air of indignation, "I'm not a baby."

Both walked past her headed for the bathroom down the hall. She watched as Buffy led the way, so that one had been exploring.

She went to help Richard put away the leftovers. She frowned at seeing that both boxes were empty." Where's the pizza? You can't tell me those two little girls each ate a large pizza."

"A large pizza, most of the breadsticks, two glasses of milk, an apple and I think they'd be raiding the refrigerator if there was anything edible in there. They aren't kids they are black holes." He laughed and folded the empty boxes up.

"I can do it myself." Buffy sounded frustrated.

"You are gonna make a mess B."

"No I won't." CRASH

"I told you to let me help." Faith yelled as Buffy's high pitched wail echoed through the house.

Anita and Richard took off at a dead run.


	4. And baby makes five

**And baby makes five.  
**

Buffy was sitting on the edge of the bathtub and Faith was trying to hold one of her arms still. A bright splash of blood stood out vividly against the white tile floor beside it broken ceramic liquid soap dispenser. Richard scooped the crying child up and Anita grabbed a first aid kit from under the sink. 

"It's not my fault, I told her not too!" Faith protested, "But she never listens to me."

Buffy glared at her sister, "I could have done it."

"Hush sweetheart it's okay, now let's see how bad it is." Richard murmured and kissed her forehead as he sat her on the table. The gash seemed obscene on the tiny arm, blood flowed from it with every heartbeat, Richard accepted a handful of gauze pads from Anita and put as much pressure on the injury as he felt comfortable with. Buffy squirmed a bit but didn't scream again so he guessed it wasn't too much for her.

"Dr. Lillian?" Anita asked softly, showing up with a strange child at an emergency room anywhere else was going to be more questions than she needed.

Richard nodded and carefully picked Buffy up keeping pressure on the arm. "Come on Faith, we need to take your sister to see a doctor."

Anita grabbed her keys and opened the door, locking it behind them. A few moments of confusion had Faith in the front passenger seat, Richard in the back holding the gauze tightly on Buffy's arm, And Anita wondering about the wisdom of taking the two kids to a were-rat doctor. Wise or not the child needed stitches and having both of them looked over by a doctor wouldn't hurt.

Faith was fiddling with the radio, and just about everything else she could reach. Buffy was chattering again, and Richard was looking shell shocked. Anita mentally chuckled; she might not have a broody wolf after this little taste of child rearing. She glanced at the blond beside her, happily dancing in her seat, Anita smiled and shook her head. Kids were resilient she knew, but this one was something else. Possibly kidnapped, left in a strange house, meeting were-wolves, her sister injured racing to a doctor in the early morning hours and what is Faith doing? Singing off key to the radio and dancing as much as the seatbelt allowed. Anita liked this kid.

Richard nodded as Buffy told him how the accident happened, not really hearing her, his mind was on the crimson gauze, which seemed to have at least stopped getting wetter. Poor little tyke, what a horrible night for her and yet she remained cheerful as a kitten, he wondered at how thin she seemed, but then the way the pair had eaten she probably wouldn't be long. The huge dark eyes were adorable he had the overwhelming desire to protect her from the world, but something told him she'd fight him all the way on that. She had the type of personality that met the world head on and the world had better watch out. He laughed softly, this little girl already had him wrapped around her finger and he didn't want to give her up.

One of Dr. Lillian's eyebrows had actually twitched upward when Anita and Richard came in holding a pair of children. The one Anita held was busy trying to get to something on Anita's arm, while the one Richard carried had a blood soak wad of gauze on her arm so ignoring the where, when and whys She motioned them into a small room with a exam table.

"So what have we here?" Grabbing a few things and setting them on a tray. She then scrubbed her hands and pulled on a pair of gloves.

Richard ruffled the dark hair, "This is Buffy and that is Faith." he glanced up and blinked in surprise, "Faith sweetie, can you please give Anita her knife back."

Innocent hazel eyes looked at him as Anita reacted swiftly claiming the little hand that had managed to get a hold of the throwing knife she had concealed under her sleeve. "Faith honey you don't need matching stitches with your sister."

Faith frowned but handed over the throwing knife, "I can hit targets better than Buffy."

"Can not!" Buffy protested ignoring the Dr. as she pulled the gauze off and cleaned the arm.

Lillian made a soft grumbling sound, "Won't need stitches, although it does seem to have bled rather heavily."

Richard looked at the arm; where there had been a deep gash was a small cut hardly worth more than a band-aid. "She had a much larger cut…." he whispered, a tread of fear rose up, could this tiny child be infected?

Lillian's beast caught his fear scent and ruffled under it, Richard was not given to lies and there was more blood than the cut should have produced. "Let get it cleaned up and bandaged, a bit of blood from both of you, then you and your sister can have a treat while Angie watches you."

Buffy insisted on a purple band-aid, but made no fuss as Lillian drew a small vial of blood. Faith started to argue, but didn't want to seem like a coward after Buffy had it done. Show she just glared at the were-rat while she withdrew the blood. Lillian's assistant Angie took both girls by the hand and led them away asking what ice cream they liked best.

"I know what you are thinking now give me a minute to check it." Lillian held up her hand to stop Richard's rush of questions. Using a pipette she transferred a drop of blood from each vial to a slide before dropping the vials into a centrifuge.

"I thought lycanthropy didn't show signs until puberty?" Anita asked softly.

Richard's hands were clenching and unclenching, "Usually but a couple years ago some bastard got the idea of using lycanthropy to make children more useful to pedophiles, as they age slower and take more abuse."

Anita paled, "You have got to be kidding." A sick feeling rising in her stomach.

Lillian was hunched over a microscope, "Sadly not, there is a were-fox in upper New York State that ran into one of the victims, said she was a mess. Since then we have found more evidence of it. A lot of people are hunting for them now; we do not need for it becoming public news. People's phobias and prejudice are bad enough without something like this being made headlines. We will find them and we will deal with them."

Anita had no doubt if Lillian had been in rat form her tail would have been lashing about like a whip. As it was she made a snorting sound and opened up a brown bottle, using another pipette to transfer a drop of the silvery fluid to each blood drop. Then back to the microscope, "Nothing. No reaction to the silver nitrate, no sign of infection, what ever it is it's not lycanthropy. Now care to tell me how you came to be babysitting the pair?"

"That is a long story and it's only been a few hours." Anita said leaning against a wall. "So you are sure neither is a were?"

"Positive, although the official test will take a few hours if you want to wait."

"No I think right now we need to take them home and get them to bed." Anita handed Lillian a card with her cell phone number. "If something comes up call me."

The trip home was a bit calmer, Faith sulking about being in the back seat and Buffy chattering about ice cream. By the time they reached the house Faith was asleep and Buffy was yawning and squirming about to find a comfortable spot to lay.

Richard gathered them both up easily carrying them as Anita opened the door and turned on the light. Sitting in the middle of the floor was yet another little girl. Younger than the two Richard carried with long dark red hair and big blue eyes, she looked up at them before declaring, "Oh poopy."

Anita knew just how the kid felt.


	5. or maybe not

**or maybe not.**

The little girl stood up looked down at her feet, then up at them with a very confused look. Buffy raised her head from Richard's shoulder and looked at the newcomer, "Willow?" 

"Buffy?" the child squeaked in surprise. Then the marble in her hand flared bright green and the child was gone. Richard tightened his grip on the two girls and ran from the house. Anita drew her gun and started looking franticly about, magic flowed over her like a wave. Magic powerful enough to drop three children into her house and then yank one back.

Seeing absolutely no one around she ran to the car where Richard was trying to keep two suddenly awake and active little girls from running back to the house.

"Where did Willow go." Buffy demanded.

"Hey cool gun, can I shoot it?" Faith asked which earned her a punch in the arm from Buffy.

Anita tried to smile reassuringly, "I'm sure she just went back where she came from. Do you have any clue where you were earlier tonight?"

"We were here." Faith stated simply one hand on her hip, eyes on the gun.

"I want Willow back." Buffy's lower lip trembled and tears sparkled in the dark mournful eyes.

Richard hugged her tight, "Hush now, we'll find Willow again."

Reassured some what Anita returned to the house and grabbed her cordless phone, dialing as she walked back to the car. "Zerbrowski I need you to get Tammy to my house right now. No I don't need a babysitter I need a witch."

"Willow is a witch." Buffy said between sniffles. "She's a real good witch."

Faith made a snort of laughter, "Yeah she's a regular Glenda."

"No she isn't she's Willow."

"That's enough." Richard stated calmly pulling Faith close again.

"Yes that would be them." Anita spoke into the phone again, "Look I just watched a third little girl vanish in front of me. Yes there was a third, Buffy says her name is Willow and she's a witch. No, I don't know how young witchcraft can manifest, ask Tammy while you are driving her over here"

Anita set the phone down and opened the car door, "Hop in girls, I have someone on the way to help out."

She paced back and forth as Richard told the girls a story to settle them back down, the pair was yawning and almost asleep again when the headlights flashing across the car had them wide wake again.

Tammy almost bounced out, obscenely cheerful for this hour of morning, she was drawn to the house instantly, Zerbrowski was more interested in the pair of little heads that watched his approach from the backseat of Anita's car.

"So this is Frick and Frack?" He smiled at the girls, "Dolph said they were cute little critters."

Anita started toward the house where they could talk without the girls overhearing. "Dolph should have stuck around to watch the feeding frenzy. Did Sally get any more information?"

Zerbrowski shook his head, "Do you have any idea how many 5 to 7 year old little girls are missing just in the United States? Too god damn many!" He tossed the cigarette to the ground and stomped it out with a bit too much vigor.

Tammy came bouncing out of the house, "Do you know where they arrived at?"

Anita shook her head, "No. One was standing in front of the door, but had been in my bedroom, the other was trying to get a glass out of the kitchen cabinet when we found them. The other one was sitting just to the right of the coffee table and had stood up and took a step toward the door when she vanished."

Zerbrowski laughed, "And here I thought you got babies out of cabbage patches all this time. Let me know when the next one shows up Katie and I always wanted a kid or two."

"You might need a raise to afford the food bill if they all eat like the first two." Anita watched as Tammy scoured the area she had indicated.

"There is a lot of residual magic here. Old power at that and something else…." She stood up, "Can you bring one of the girls in here? If she vanishes too we might have a better idea what happened."

Anita had to stop herself from reaching out and circling the younger witch's throat and squeezing till the over bright greenish eyes popped out. "You can come out to the car and meet them, but I think they have had enough trauma for one night. They will be going over to Richard's after this."

Tammy shrugged and vanished down the hallway, only to return a minute later. "Umm Anita did you know there is blood all over your bathroom floor."

"Yes Buffy had a small accident. We were getting that taken care of when the third child appeared."

"Kid alright?" Zerbrowski asked.

"A bit too alright." Anita mumbled.

"Can I at least speak with the girls?" Tammy asked, "I promise not to upset them."

Anita motioned toward the car and moved aside as Tammy headed out the door. A slip of paper caught her eye, a note from Jason. "Shit I forgot about him."

"Who?"

"Sent a friend out to get breakfast for the girls before Buffy cut herself. We forgot about him."

"What did you mean a bit too alright?" Zerbrowski eyes were focused on the car.

"The kids aren't normal, they eat like linebackers, knew someone was a were-wolf on first sight, the were-wolf said neither one has a scent, Buffy the dark haired one, heals faster than a were, and Faith has a more than healthy interest in weapons." Anita rubbed the back of her neck, "They are both very strong and fast."

Zerbrowski whistled sharply, "Lycanthrophy?"

"Had the Dr. check them out. Unofficial answer is no, official test result will be in tomorrow. They can't go to child services until we figure out who they are and where they came from." Anita sighed, "Richard's good with kids and I can help as much as I can."

"Mommy Anita sounding good?" Zerbrowski's eyes shown with amusement.

Anita glared at him and walked toward the car, both girls were standing with arms crossed and Faith looked as if she was about to explode. "Looks like we need to rescue Tammy."

* * *

"Ouch!" Willow exclaimed as she tumbled to the floor. "That so does not feel good."

"Oh my!" Giles exclaimed.

"Willow?" Tara's voice squeaked a bit with surprise.

Willow stood up rubbing a bruised spot on her arm, and looked up and up further. Then she looked at her tiny hands. "I shrunk?"

Tara knelt in front of her, "Willow your….."

The door opened, "Hey G-man we just got your messag… WHOA! Willow?"

Anya looked at the child standing in front of Tara, "This is not fair, Willow doesn't get to have mini me's first. You have to get married and then have sex. Well not that she hasn't been having sex, but you have to have sex with a boy!"

Tara blushed and stuttered a bit, little Willow stomped her foot and looked annoyed. "I am Willow. And I saw Buffy and maybe Faith and they are kids too!"

"Oh bloody hell this is just perfect." Giles started polishing his glasses.


	6. Nobody's Pawns

If Faith had been a cat her back would be arched and her tail puffed up like a bottle brush, as it was her eyes were angry, her foot tapping and her shoulders tense. Buffy looked a more relaxed at first, but the crossed arms and too still body radiated a quieter anger. Richard knelt between the two trying to defuse the situation.

Tammy's voice was audible now, "Look all I want to do is see if the magic is still there, all you have to do is stand in the house for a moment. Maybe you can go home to your Mom?"

Anita stopped in surprise as Faith suddenly punched out with her right fist and Buffy preformed a perfect roundhouse kick, Tammy was sent flying. Both girls turned to run only barely caught by Richard.

"Whoa you pair." Richard fought for a better grip on the two squirming bodies, "Anita I'm taking them to my home before this witch tries anything else."

"I'll follow as soon as we check the scene out more thoroughly." Anita nodded agreement, she knew she should scold the pair for hitting an adult, but Tammy had earned it. Another piece in the growing mystery, who taught six year olds self defense?

Zerbrowski helped Tammy up, "I think you upset them a bit there."

"They are not really supposed to be here." Tammy protested brushing dust and grass of her legs.

"They are here now. They are just children. They are not magical guinea pigs. And if you ever suggest using a child to experiment with magical phenomena again, it's not the kids you will need to worry about." Anita stated simply before heading to Richard's car to help get the girls settled in.

"I get the front seat." Faith chimed.

"You got the front seat earlier." Buffy whined

"Yeah and I'm getting it again." Taunting little grin.

"Neither of you get the front seat you are safer in the backseat." Richard said to settle the argument.

"Sure you are okay with them?" Anita asked, "I'll be there as soon as I can."

"A few minutes of peace and both will be sound asleep." Richard had a wistful expression as he looked at them. "I think they are worse trouble magnets than you."

Anita stuck her tongue out and waved bye to the girls.

Back in the house Tammy was on her hands and knees checking out the floor, "There is no sign of a circle or runes or anything that could be used as a focus to bring the girls here. Did either girl have anything on them? Jewelry? A crystal?"

"The third one, Willow, had something in her hand. I thought it was a marble but it glowed right when she vanished."

"That could be the focus stone, there should be one for each girl. We have to find them." Tammy was looking under the furniture now, "And I'm sorry about what I said, but those two do not belong here. Their auras are shattered and fractured as if they are forced into these bodies. And the strength of their auras is just overwhelming! It's fully formed too as if they are adults trapped in children's bodies."

Anita huffed, "Spend an hour with them and try and tell me they are adults."

"I don't know what the spell is, but the power behind it is amazing, very raw and primal." Tammy sat up, "I'm not sure there is any one person that could do this."

"So I have a coven of witches sending them here? Why?"

"Because they knew what a great mother you would be?" Zerbrowski said from a safe distance.

Tammy stood up looking around trying to sense a magic surge to find the focus stone. "Maybe they were at risk and someone wants them kept safe. Two little girls with that much power already. There are so many people out there that would love to get there hands on them. Give them ten or twelve years to grow into their power fully and imagine the price vampires would pay for them as human servants. Those two are at risk and if the third child is considered a witch at that young of an age then she's in just as much danger."

Anita and Zerbrowski both paled slightly, they knew about the darker side of society and how many political power plays were swirling about. These children would become pawns in the private wars of vampires and others, used up and killed. Anita resolved to protect the girls against any threat in that moment. The fierce protective streak in Anita rose up like a slumbering lioness, no one would make slaves of the girls while she was alive . 

Giles pulled his glasses off and pinched the bridge of his nose, his eyes burned and his head throbbed. He still had no bloody idea how the spell had gone so wrong. Nor did he have any idea yet how to correct it. Willow was sprawled on the floor in the boneless manner of young children, taking notes from one book and debating something with Tara. What was he suppose to tell the Rosenburg's? Or Joyce for that matter.

"_So sorry but we seem to have turned your daughter into a young child again, and unfortunately we haven't a clue where she is at the moment." _Yes that would go over well, Giles put the glasses back on and pulled another book towards him. A silent prayer on his lips that where ever Buffy was that she was safe.

"Mr. Giles?" Tara asked very softly.

"Yes?" He looked up at the nervous young woman.

"T-t-t-this s-spe-ll it m-might be it." Tara stuttered out, "T-the wording is a l-lot alike."

Giles took the book and studied the spell, "Good heavens. Yes Tara I think you might be right."

For the first time Giles felt a surge of hope.


	7. So all we have to do

**So all we have to do...**

"But I don't want to go to sleep." Buffy protested between yawns. "I want to wait for Anita to bring Willow back."

Richard stoked the dark hair gently, "I'm sure she'll do everything she can. But for know you need to get some sleep. Look Faith is already going to sleep."

"That's 'cause Faith doesn't care about Willow." Buffy stamped one foot and pouted.

"Hey I don't have anything against Red, she's cool, bit on the strange side but hey who isn't around you." Faith mumbled before wiggling into a more comfortable position on the couch. "Quit worrying B, the little witch will take care of herself she's good at that."

Richard frowned slightly and pulled Buffy onto his lap as he sat down on the other end of the couch. The child looked miserable for a moment, "I miss them so much." she whispered so softly he barely heard it. He hugged her close and crooned a toneless lullaby wondering who them was and if this little girl would ever see them again.

* * *

Anita paced back and forth, she needed to act fast and had no clue yet what to do. The girls would be at risk the moment anyone found out about them, she couldn't watch them every second of the day and night, nor could Richard. Dolph and Zerbrowski stood talking outside, neither was happy at the prospect that the monsters would be hunting two little girls. It was one thing to know it happened it was another to have seen the faces of the two little girls in question. Tammy continued to scour the house, muttering to herself from time to time. Anita disliked the idea of Tammy going though her house, but then she disliked the idea of anyone invading her home.

Speaking of invaders, she wondered how Richard was doing with the girls. Buffy had probably charmed him into sitting up all night watching television. She opened a drawer of the nightstand and pulled out a simple white business card. The ringing on the other end stopped abruptly with the mechanical voice of an answering service, instructing her to leave a message at the tone. 'This is Anita. I need to talk to you now."

She put the card back in it's spot and walked out to talk to Dolph and Zerbrowski, calling Tammy over to them. "We have to be quiet about the girls. The fewer people that know about them the better right now."

Anita's beeper chimed then, a local number she didn't know. So he was in town. That made it easier she guessed.

Tammy nodded in agreement. "I need to do some research, this is not like anything I've ever seen before."

Dolph and Zerbrowski remained a bit longer, flipping a coin to see who would remain at Anita's house. If another child showed up or something else they wanted to keep an eye on the place. Anita handed over her spare house keys to Dolph with a sigh and headed for Richard's house. At least one blessing of the night was that Dolph had not heard Buffy's innocent statement that Richard was a were. Dolph's hatred of preternatural creatures was legendary. But that worked in her favor at the moment. He would give his life to keep the girls away from the monsters.

Coffee, she needed to pick some up if she was going to be at Richard's all night. The man was handsome beyond belief, a gentleman, he loved musicals too, but his dislike of coffee almost outweighed it all. She pulled into an all night market might as well grab something for the girl's breakfast. What did one feed kids? The beeper sounded again, same number. She headed for the pay phone and called the number, she was never going to get any sleep tonight.

"Morning Anita." the voice calmly stated

"I would ask what you are doing in town, but after the night I've had I am surprised you didn't show up in my living room like everyone else."

"Everyone else?" Edward actually sounded vaguely amused. "Should I join your little party?"

"I've had a very interesting night, at least three children have been dropped by magic in my house, half the RPIT unit has been in my house, one of which is currently babysitting the house. And just to top it all off someone has cast a very high powered magic spell on me." Anita leaned against the wall finally giving voice to the fear that had been gnawing at her since Buffy had screamed mommy.

"Where are you?" The voice on the other end of the phone demanded all amusement gone.

"Standing outside the Schnuck's near my house" She slid down to sit on the still sun warm concrete and let the phone fall from her hand.

* * *

"The spell Tara found is extraordinarily close to the draconian katra spell. The slight difference is that instead of asking that the souls be switched, it asked for an intervention in the lives of the pair." Giles cleaned his glasses as he paced back and forth.

"So they are in some sort of cosmic nut house talking it over?" Xander asked.

"Oh I know that spell!" Anya popped up brightly, "It forces two people with a problem to either solve it. Or start over as children, so they get to grow up again and not have the problem. Very effective!"

Willow glared at the brightly smiling face, "That still doesn't explain why I got sent there and why I am not even four foot tall."

Tara shrugged, "But you are close to them and the spell might have thought you needed help, but because you were by yourself it reversed at least mostly. So if you were with someone else and you two solved your problem then you would be back to normal."

Giles cleared his throat, "Another thing to consider is that it was not the draconian katra spell, Buffy and Faith will still be switched and that could be considered the problem of the spell there for not allowing a resolution."

Xander and Willow looked at one another, "So we have to do the right spell, get there somehow, get them switched back and to work out their problems and then they can come back all grown up and slayer fit?" Willow asked looking a bit pale.

"In a word yes." Giles felt his headache returning.


End file.
